Salisbury, MD (March 16^th, 2024) -- The King's College softball team battled hard against the University of Lynchburg on game one at the Margie Knight Softball Tournament on Saturday afternoon. The Monarchs fell 1-2 to the Hornets (11-3) at Henry S. Parer Athletic Complex. King's lost their second contest of the day to New York University (2-2) with a score of 0-8. A full recap to come tomorrow. The Monarchs are now 6-4 overall heading into day two of the tournament.
 
The first inning was three and out for both sides with Emily Novicki earning her first two strikeouts of the day. Harley Sullivan was able to get a base hit, but Lynchburg was able to make King's scoreless. The Monarchs held on strong as the Hornets were able to get a base hit of their own and get three outs with no runs.
 
Lynchburg gained runners on the second and third base when Madison Barnes got a hit that allowed Jessica Stricklan to score at the bottom of the fourth. King's got their second out during this scoring play with Barnes reaching second. The Hornets gained another point before Novicki produced another strike out to close out the fourth inning.
 
The Monarchs were able to get within one after a base hit by Jessica Perella to bring Nina Anzalone home at the top of the sixth. Lynchburg was able to withstand King's comeback by going three and out.
 
Three different Monarchs recorded hits Jessica Perella, Sullivan, and Colleen Shuler with Anzalone scoring the only point. Novicki had five strikeouts of the day.
 
For the Hornets, Kailey Dorcsis had seven strikeouts. Stricklan and Barnes were the lone scorers, while five different players were able to connect to get on base.
 
King's are back in action tomorrow for day two of the tournament on March 17^th. They will take on Carnegie Mellon at 11 a.m. and Manhattanville at 3:30 p.m. The squad will return home for a double header against Muhlenberg on Tuesday, March 19^th.